this morning on "early today," end of an era. north korea says its long time supreme leader, kim jong il, is dead. southwest wiped out, five western states prepare for the onslaught of a major winter storm. and harry's heroics. the english prince latches his own london dragnet for a friend the english prince latches his own london dragnet for a friend in need. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. i'm lynn berry. today we begin with the death of a dictator. north korea's long time leader, kim kim jong il has died at the

age of 69 after a heart attack ending 17 years of rule over the isolated country. kim's likely heir is his youngest son, kim jong-un. >> they called him the dear leader, the iron willed commander. hits birth heralded by rainbows and a new star lighting the sky. but kim jong il has turned out to be mortal after all. kim jong il's north korea seemed at times bizarre, but sometimes dangerous, impoverishing his own people and threatening to annihilate his own. he was rumored to be a cognac guzzling sat of hollywood,

guzzling fast cars. so little is really known. diplomates who dealt with him describe kim as screwed and calculating, well practiced at the use of threats and force to win with concessions of aid, successfully fending off u.s. efforts to reign in his nuclear weapons program. he inherited the job in 1994 from his father, the founder of north korea, who though dead remained eternal president. as kim jong il's health deteriorated, his features ravished by at least one stroke, he groomed his youngest song to take over. the young kim's rise was accompanied by a spate of provocations against the south, tore peatoing a boat and shelling an island near the border. gifts to his son, perhaps, who would appear to have few obvious leadership qualities from a

father often dismissed as mad but likely to be remembered as a master manipulator. ian williams, nbc news, bangkok. elsewhere weekend, the leader of a very different kind of union. the czech rep leader died after a long time communist rule. there was a peaceful uprising in november 1989 that ended soviet backed rule. just over a month later, havel became president. the sweden foreign minister called havel simply one of the greatest europeans of our age. now to washington where the fate of the payroll tax cut is once again up in the air. after the senate and the white house agreed on a two-month extension, house republicans are now saying they're not on board. nbc's tracie potts joins us from washington with more on that.

tracy, good morning. >> lynn, good morning. house republicans led by speaker john boehner say they don't want a two-month extension, they want a full year extension and they'll vote down that temporary extension later today. this after 89 senate democrats and republicans compromised, voted on the two-month extension and then left town. even senate republicans are urging their fellow republicans in the house to do so today, but it looks like that measure may be the rejected. bottom line, your payroll tax cut, as of january 1st, still very much up in the air. what happens from now? a couple of things. first of all, if they vote on something different, the senate may have to come back and approve or disapprove that. or they might be able to work this out in conference. what the senate passed includes that controversial keystone xl oil pipeline. democrats gave in at the last minute to get this extension done, but the white house says

it doesn't force them to approve the pipeline. >> tracie potts there for us in washington. thank you. now here's a look at other stories making news early today in america. new york police have arrested a man for the brutal murder of a 73-year-old woman. a security camera captured the man dousing the woman with a flammable liquid inside an elevator and then igniting a deadly blaze with a molitov cocktail. the suspect told police he was angry with the elderly victim because she owed him money for the work he had done. disturbing there. a texas high school championship game celebration came to a painful ending at cowboys stadium. the winning coach was among seven people mowed down by a run away electric cart after the title game. all the injuries were minor and it's still unclear how the unmanned vehicle became moving under its own power. and finally, santa had an unforgettable gift for one young boy in kansas.

moments after he told st. nick he wanted his dad home for christmas, the 3-year-old's father popped out of a nearby box. dad is home on leave after serving two tours in iraq and redeploys in january. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here is nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. good morning to you, bill. >> that's the way to travel back from the war zone, on santa's sled, it's fast. >> he has an in on the air space. >> especially if you're in that box the whole trip. >> good morning, everyone. hope you had a wonderful weekend. major winter storm, one with of the first of december. this is kind of very -- we've been talking about how there's been a lack of any big winter storms. this one will live up to its billing. no big cities are going to get nailed by the a lot of heavy snow or the wind. there's a lot of rural areas out here in the central plains. the fringe effects will be felt

in areas like denver, pueblo. albuquerque is getting some of the snow now, but it's just beginning. the bull's eye for snow, a possibility of a foot or more be blown and drifting all over the place. this would be a blizzard with the gusty, strong winds out here in the plains. wichita and kansas city, the temperatures are not cold enough for you for snow. notice it taps into some of the cold air here, but out ahead of it, there's a lot of warm air. for everyone that suffered through a cold weekend up here in new england, you're warming up as the storm is going to take a lot of warm air from the south. don't forget a chance of strong storms today in texas, too. that's a look at your national forecast. now here is a look at the weather outside your window. although storms will form later this afternoon into this evening, we could have a long looind line of straight winds.

st. louis, some of that wet weather will move your way today. the blizzard is mostly in rural areas. travel will be very difficult in those spots. >> bill, thanks so much. the death of north korea's ruler shakes world markets, the price of gas keeps falling and zinga putters. plus, it was the only film to shine in an otherwise disasterus weekend at the box office. tim tebow looks for another miracle. the packers' run at history comes to an end. and will the colts ever get a victory? you're watching "early today."

good morning, and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. here are some of your top headlines this morning. reuters is reporting the u.s. is considering the transfer of an unspecified number of taliban prisoners into afghan government

custody as part of a confidence building measure in secret talks with the taliban. u.s. officials tell reuters that talks have reached a critical juncture. in pakistan, more than 30,000 protesters rallied against the u.s. in the eastern city of lehor demanding islamabad cut off ties with washington. the protest was in response to last month's nato air strike that killed 24 pakistani soldiers. egyptian security forces and protesters demanding an end to military rue clashed on the streets of cairo today. at least ten protesters have been killed and 441 others wounded the. and england's prince harry reportedly leapt into action after hearing a friend being mugged over the phone. the prince searched the streets of south london before catching up with the victim at a police station. he really is perfect. >> and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 11,866 after

losing two points friday. the s&p eased up three. the nasdaq gained 14. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei dropped 105 points while in hong kong the hang seng fell 215. today's death of north korea's leader kim jong il threw an unexpected curveball at already jittery market. raising fear of asian instability, u.s. futures are pointing downward for today. otherwise, ininvestors will watch wall street this week. today, europe's central bank president disappointed markets saying the bank won't consider large bond purchases. hammering out italy's crucial austerity budget battling opposition this week. here at home, according to come

score, consumers spent 15% more in holiday buying than last year. the average regular gas is $3.24 a gallon, down 24 cents over the past six weeks. in deal news, canada's el dorado gold agreed to buy european gold fields for backside 2.4 billion. housing data dominates the week. december home builder sentiment is out today. november housing starts come tuesday followed by wednesday's previously owned home sales. new home sales are out friday. watch zinga this week. its highly anticipated ipo stumbled friday, losing 5% in its debut. finally, you may want to avoice this term in your next job interview. nearly four in ten adults named whatever the most annoying phrase used in conversation for the third year in a row. coming up, brady is too much for tebow. the colts play big while the giants play small. plus, with halftime

entertainment like this, who needs madonna? your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. if you're doing any travel in the central u.s., you're either going to deal with a major winter storm or possible thunderstorms. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today."

in sports, the denver broncos set out to prove sunday they were contenders. but instead, the new england patriots confirmed claims by bronco critics that they're just a curiosity. here's nbc's mario solis with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. tim tebow has created incredible last minute magic this season, but he would need a miracle to beat the patriots. first quarter, tim tebow taking off, breaks the tackle, weaves his way into the end zone. remarkable start for the broncos. but tom brady answers right back. england has a 7-6 lead and they never look back. tebow, trying to create more magic. on fourth and suspect, he's running backwards, keeps going and going, trying to find a miracle. not this time. pat's win, 41-23 to clench the afc east.

also history, the packers perfect season. aaron rodgers and company fall to and company. the chiefs shock the packers, 19-14. green bay still top in the league at 13-1. colts finally get their first victory hosting the titans. donald brown reversing course, finding daylight and going 80 yards for six. colts win 27-13. they now 1-1337. in san diego, chargers surprising the ravens. philip rivers finding malcolm floyd for the score. chargers win to hold on to playoff hopes. bad day for eli manning, giants lose, 23-10. they fall to 7-7. finally, back to denver for the best play of the day. a monkey riding the field around for halftime. if tebow had one of those guys,

the broncos would have beating new england. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm mario solis. >> how is that for a good way to start off your week? coming, sherlock holmes wins and loses at the box office. plus, as opposed to the sweet 16 lavishness, these are the kind of things that were found at one tar heel girl's celebration. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today" on this monday morning. we talked about the winter storm moving into areas of new mexico and kansas during the day. out ahead of it, we're going to have some stormy weather. dallas to ft. worth, to waco to houston, and areas to the east of san antonio. so just watch out, gusty strong winds, maybe an isolated tornado. otherwise, we're okay on the eastern seaboard. we're dry for now. okay in chicago and the great lakes. all the stormy weather is here from new mexico especially in the southeastern corner of colorado. this will be a full out blizzard later on tonight into tomorrow morning. if you're watching us on wtn nbc 17, wall lee, north carolina, see the oldest and biggest free holiday lights show in eastern carolina at meadow lights at the old country store. that's your "early today" event of the day. you get in the car and you drive around and see how everyone decorated their houses. >> it's a favorite.

brings the chot hock lat. bill, thanks so much. now here's a look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. in hollywood, a devastating weekend. not even "sherlock holmes" could come out with a win. they brought in $20 million less than estimates. this year's movie attendance has dipped to the lowest level in 16 years. alvin and the chipmunks "chipwrecked" opened in second with about $23 million. and the weekend's only bright spot was tom cruise's action sequel "ghost protocol" finished third with a whooping $13 million. i had absolutely no idea there was another mission impossible. >> yes, you did. >> i had no idea. i don't think on friday we mentioned that. >> it's a limited release.

they're getting the buzz going. >> it's such a big movie. >> they're being cagey about it, they're being smart. this comes to us from rally, north carolina, where in nearby johnson county helping others was the only request on one teen's birthday wish. mckenzie's sweet 16 bash didn't resemble the sweet 16 party we've seen thrown so many times. instead, this birthday girl wanted to give. she told party gusts to come with donations for the toys for tots charities. a little showing of it can be better to give than receive. i'm lynn berry, and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

>> live, local, late-breaking, this is wbal-tv 11 news today. the work weekto as we slowly head towards the holiday. we're starting out with high pressure in control. a lot of 20's across the mid atlantic. we will see sunshine to start off. the storm system in the south -- looks like a lot of rain. this will develop into a blizzard in places like kansas. this is something we will keep our eye on as rain chances increase as the storm heads our

way. >> 26 degrees on tv hill. a notorious leader has died. look back at the career leader. >> it was a deadly weekend in baltimore city. >> the ravens feeling a bit down on themselves. have they just did not make the cut -- how they just didn't make cut -- how they just didn't make the cut

[captioning made possible by constellation energy group] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> live, local, late-breaking, this is wbal-tv 11 news today. >> good morning. i am mindy basara. >> i am lisa robinson. thank you for joining us this morning. >> phyllis like a typical december morning -- it feels like a typical december morning.